John Guliak and the Lougan Brothers

Well, here I am back on the prairies,­ in Edmonton no less. It's been a few years but many parts of the city are still familiar. When I last lived here I was a too sad and naively militant angry young man. Now it appears I'm a vaguely happier and naively complacent curmudgeonly codger.Coming back to Edmonton, I can't help but feel nostalgic for the 80's: I had just finished with the University of Lethbridge (fondly referred to as the U of Hell) and started my long-time career in supporting people with disabilities. Music was just a hobby or therapy at this time ­ it had been 5 or 6 years since I played trombone in Melville, Saskatchewan's various school bands or bass in the high-school-and-town-hall-touring MAGNUM (we had to change the name to JADE because of the TV show and­ we were way too cool for Tom Selleck). Anyway, I had just moved to Edmonton and was disillusioned on various counts -­ love, education, religion, politics and the lot. Lucky for me, there were the Jazz and Folk Festivals and places like Southside Sound where I could indulge in something I still enjoyed.Next I was off to Winnipeg where I began to perform again. Here I played in PERI-COMA and the variously inspired RED NIXON PRESENTS. Five years later I was back in Lethbridge where I teamed up with Karen Solie in STAN ROGER'S CLOSET.Then it was off to Victoria and Vancouver where I spent the last 10 years. I played with Carolyn Mark in THE FIXIN'S before putting together THE LOUGAN BROTHERS. In Vancouver I met Randy Iwata of Mint Records, Linda McRae, Ford Pier, The Buttless Chaps, The Hard Rock Miners and others who have been extremely supportive to me. 2002's The Black Monk was recorded in Tolan McNeil's Lucky Mouse Studio and released by Mint Records. The work Tolan and Keith Rose (Roots Roundup, The Hard Rock Miners, The Royal Grand Prix) put into this recording was extremely important ­ I can't imagine how it would have sounded without them. They, as well as Mint Records, are also instrumental in 2004's 7 Stories and 13 Songs. Barry Mirochnick (Veda Hille, Martin Tielli) and Paul Rigby (Bocephus King, Neko Case) round out the Lougan Brothers this time.Now in Edmonton I've been working with a group of musicians we are calling THE NEW LOUGANS: Marc Ladouceur on mandolin and guitar, Johnny Blerot on accordion and Brent Oliver playing bass.Hopefully we'll get some touring done this summer and maybe get out to your neck of the woods sometime soon.In the meantime, check out www.johnguliak.com for news, gigs and links to MP3s.